Today is the birthday of my sister-in-law Mary Lou Williams. I knew her as Mary Lou Putteet when we were classmates at Middleburg High School in the l950’s. Mary Lou was always a very pretty girl with honest-to-goodness blond hair. I liked her even before she met my brother and became part of the family. Among other things, we had four years of Mrs. Brock’s rigorous English classes together. One thing I especially liked about Mary Lou was that she didn’t seem to mind that I had the quirky habit of carrying a dictionary around with me. She just accepted me. Sometime during our senior year she and my brother Ronald met each other. Well, you know the rest of that story.
There were some things about Mary Lou I found out by surprise. Once at the end of a school day, I was going through the downstairs hallway toward the side door which we had to use to exit the building. I heard a a girl singing. She had a beautiful soprano voice. The singing was coming from the vestibule of our overcrowded school building, the space where Miss Anna, the music teacher, had to meet her students..sometimes at the very end of the school day. The door to the vestibule was closed, so I couldn’t tell who could be producing such a lovely sound. As I paused to listen, one of my teachers came down the steps to the hall. I think it was Mr. Bastin, but I can’t remember for sure. I asked, “Who is that singing?” He said, “It’s that little Putteet girl. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Mary Lou’s parents made the generous offer to have all the senior girls to their house for a sleepover just before our graduation. We were excited, and we had a great time…except for Jane Marvin Brock. We didn’t know it at first, but that night poor Jane was coming down with the mumps. She began to feel bad just after she got to Mary Lou’s house. We all wanted her to get better soon, of course, but she didn’t. As time passed, she felt more and more sick. She wound up having to go home, missing our pajama party that night, and also missing her own graduation a few days later. Mrs. Brock got so angry. I think I can understand why now. She said if she knew who gave Jane the mumps, she would flunk that person! As far as I know, Mrs. Brock didn’t flunk anybody But she did accept Jane’s diploma for her on graduation night. I can still hear her high heels clicking as she walked across the stage to take that piece of paper.
There was another school experience that involved Mary Lou and her music. Again this happened near the end of one school year. (I’m not sure which school year). One afternoon a group of us was standing outside near the road in front of the school building, just waiting for the bus to take us home. We were in an unusually good mood because summer was coming. Perhaps you can also remember how carefree you felt when school was almost over for the year, and summer was ahead. It is a light-hearted time when all hopes are set on good things that seem to be just around the corner. While we were standing there, chatting about our summer plans, Miss Anna’s glee club began to sing. This time the outside door to the vestibule was wide open, and the music just came floating out. And oh, it was beautiful. It really was. I think the song was, “Roses from the South.” It sounded fresh and light, all those young voices, including Mary Lou’s, made me almost feel like dancing. It is one of the best memories of my adolescence.
Thank you, Mary Lou. What a pleasure it was to hear you sing. Happy birthday!